Garment sleeve ironer



Aug. 23, 1938. J. H. I EEF GARMENT SLEEVE IRoNER Filed May s, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Aug. 23, 1938. J. H. LEEF GARMENT SLEEVE IRONER Filed May 8, 19557 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 23, 1938 UNITED STATES GARMENT SLEEVE IRONER John H. Leef, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Leef Bros., Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application May.8, 1937, Serial No. 141,465

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to improvements in ironing machines of the type employed for ironing the tubular portions of garments such as legs and sleeves and, in the particular form 5 herein illustrated and described, is particularly adapted for the ironing of garment sleeves. Otherwise stated, the invention relates to improvements in ironing devices of the type disclosed in prior Patents Nos. 1,937,656 and 2,022,- 210, the former of which was issued jointly to myself and George H. Leef on December 5, 1933 under the title of Garment leg ironer, and the letter of which was issued jointly to myself and George H. Leef on November 26, 1935 under the title of Garment sleeve ironer.

Among the important objects of the invention is the provision of a machine of the kind described that can be more quickly and easily manipulated than similar machines of this character. The 90 above and several other important objects of the invention will be made apparent in the following specication and claims.

In the accompanying drawings like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view with some parts shown in full and some parts broken away, taken on the line I-I of Fig. 2, looking from the right toward the left;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailview with some partsI broken away and some parts shown in section; and

Fig. 5 is a composite illustrating the inlet and outlet connections to the steam chambers of the several boots, and the series hook-up of the several thereof is indicated by direction arrows, the several parts of this view being enclosed in broken lines.

Mounted on a common supporting table 6, which consists of a top 'I and a frame-like leg structure 8, are two pairs of co-operating pressing boots, one of which pairs of boots is indicated as an entirety by A, and the other of which pairs of boots is indicated as an entirety by B. Each pair of boots is` identical in character and is mounted in laterally spaced parallel relation on the table top or supporting base 'I. Each pair Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view with some of boots consists of a fixed or rigidly mounted boot 9 and a co-operating relatively movable boot I0. The boots 9 and I0 are in the nature of elongated hollow shells` preferably cast of iron or other suitable metal of high conductivity. The rigidly mounted or fixed boots 9 are securely anchored to the table top or supporting base 'I by suitable bolts or the like II, and the co-operating relatively movable boots Ill are connected `to and supported from their respective co-operating fixed boots 9 by links I2, which links are pivotally connected at their lower ends to the base portions of the xed boots at I3 and to the upper intermediate portions of the movable boots II) by pivot hinge pins I4. The `co-operating boots 9 and I Il thus mounted, one with respect to the other, will automatically adapt themselves to relative positions necessary to accommodate different sizes and shapes of garment sleeves; and since it is desired to permit the boots 9 and I8 to be brought'into face-to-face Contact when necessary, the opposed inner faces of the boots 9 and I are preferably provided with recesses I5 and I6 for reception of the connecting links I2.

Under the action of gravity the movable boots I0 will normally tend to move away from their respective co-operating boots 9 on the arc of a circle struck from the points of pivotal connection between the links I2 and Xed boots 9, and the tendency will be for the movable boots I0 to move on this movable arc until the lower ends of the boots I0 come to rest upon the table top 1. However, in practice the resilient steam connections to the movable boots, which will hereinafter be described in detail, usually exert suicient re-l sistance to suchl extreme movement as is necessary to keep the movable boots normally posi tioned substantially as illustrated in Figs. l, 2 and 3, wherein said boots I0 are positioned slightly above the table top. Nevertheless, it will be obvious that in the absence of sufficient resist# ance to gravitation set up by the steam connections the movable boots Iii, when released, will normally come to rest against the top of the table. The boots I0 are concave from top to bottom at their front faces, indicated by Il, and these concave portions I'I are spanned by resilient forming rods I8, the lower ends of which forming rods I8 are loosely seated in suitable sockets I9 formed in the base portions of the boots IIl, andl the upper ends of the resilient forming rods I8 are turned inwardly at 20 and work slidably in grooves or notches 2I in the upper end portions of their respective'boots ID. The inturned end portions of the forming rods I8 are retained against upward movements out of the notches 2| by retaining pins or the like 22. By reference particularly to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the intermediate portions of the inturned upper ends of the forming rods !8 are vertically offset at 23, and the notches 2| areV similarly offset to provide stop shoulders 24 which co-operate with the opposite portions 23 of the forming rods-to limit outward movements of the forming rods i8 with respect to the boots i9. Interposed over the extreme inner ends of the forming rods |8 and extending between the opposite portions 23 thereof and the rear wall of the notches 2| are compression springs 25 which normally keep the ends of the pressing rods i3 pressed outward to the maximum extent permitted by the stop shoulders 24, but which springs 25 will yield readily under contracting pressure exerted by a garment sleeve and will permit the upper ends of the forming rods i8 to be drawn up tight against the faces of their respective boots il! or to any intermediate positions.

The sleeves of the shirts of various different grades and makes vary greatly in shape. Some, namely, the lower quality work shirts, taper straight down from the shoulder to the cuff diameter at the cuffs; whereas, sleeves of higher quality shirts such as dress shirts, usually have much less taper and at their points of attachment to the cuffs are of considerably larger diameter than the cuffs themselves. Still other shirts have sleeves which are substantially of uniform diameter throughout; and still other shirts are found to be provided with sleeves which are concave adjacent the seam. It will be obvious that it would be practically impossible to select any shape pressing boots which would be capable of conforming to the shape of all the different sizes and styles of short sleeves encountered in general laundry practice, but such difficulty is largely done away with in the preferred embodiment of this invention herein illustrated and described by the combined automatic shifting actions of movable boots Ill with respect to their co-operating boots 9 and the yielding action of the forming rods I8.

In this connection it Will, of course, be understood that when a sleeve is pulled over a pair of co-operating boots S and I9, shoulder end first and seam adjacent the forming rods I8, the movable boots IU, after being shifted toward their co-operating fixed boots 9 to permit free application of the sleeve, will move outwardly under the action of gravity until they tightly engage the sleeve and maintain the same under expanding pressure against the surfaces of the boots, and the upper ends of the forming rods will compress their co-operating springs 25 and recede into the heads of the boots H3 as far as is necessary to accommodate sleeves of any particular cuff dimension; and the intermediate and lower portions of the forming rods i8 will shape themselves to conform to the shape of the seam edge of any seam shape. The net result of the above is the F uniform stretching or shaping of substantially any sleeve shape all the way from cuff to shoulder without leaving any ruffled or loose portions, so that the finished product is substantially free from imperfections usually considered as a necessary result of machine work.

Preferably the rear sides of the xed 1boots S, which engage the sleeve diametrically opposite the seam edge thereof, are straight or substantially so from top to bottom, but, of course, this form may be varied. In the machine illustrated the sleeve.

the opposite pairs of pressing boots A and B are spaced so that both sleeves of a shirt may be pressed in a single operation.

I-Iitherto in machines of this character the boots have been drawn together to an extent necessary to accommodate a sleeve by the contracting action produced under first application of the sleeve. This practice, however, is objectionable, firstly, in that it retards the operationlof inserting the sleeve, and secondly; in that it is apt to place undue and sometimes damaging strain upon It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a unique mechanism for forcing the boots together and into minimum diameter condition during the sleeve application and removal operations. In the preferred embodiment of the invention herein illustrated this retracting mechanism is foot-operated and comprises an intermediately pivoted operating lever 26 and a forked push rod 2l, opposite upper ends 2B of which engage the bottom portions of opposite boots l0. These forked upper ends 28 of push rod 21 work freely through guide apertures 29 provided therefor in the table top 1, see particularly Fig. 1. The lower end of push rod 21 is pivotally anchored to the inwardly projecting end of the lever 26 at 30. The intermediate portion of the lever 26 is pvoted on a cross rod 3| that extends at opposite sides of the frame-like structure 8 and is held axially centered on said rod 3| by opposed spacing tubes 32. Preferably the lever 26 is provided at its outer end with a pedal plate 33 which is conveniently positioned for manipulation by one of the operators.

Under foot pressure applied by the operator to to the pedal-equipped end of the lever 2E, lifting pressure will be applied to the movable boots l0 through the forked push rod 21, and under this upward lifting pressure the movable boots I0 will tend to move upwardly and toward their respective co-operating fixed boots 9 on the arcs of circles struck from the pivot points I3 until the upper ends of the co-operating boots come into engagement, at which time application of the sleeve will be very quickly accomplished. After the sleeve has been applied and the foot pressure released, the parts will then assume positions necessary for complete smoothing out of all the sleeve surface. Since the upper ends 28 of the push rod engage the base portions of the movable boots lil onlyl with frictional surface engagement, movements of the lower ends of the boots l0 will be permitted even when lifting pressure is applied to the boots and lever 26 of the push rod.

The steam chamberswithin the hollow shelllike boots 9 and ID of boot pairs A and B are supplied with suitable heating medium, which will usually be live steam in the manner presently to be described. These steam chambers of the several boots are each provided with concentric steam inlet and outlet ducts, and the steam chambers of the several boots are connected in series. For this purpose each of the several boots 9 and I0 has projecting downwardly from the screw threaded into its bottom portion a pipe-like section. For the purpose of identication the said outlet pipe sections for boots 9 and I0 of boot pair A are respectively indicated by 9a` and lila and said pipe outlet sections for boots 9 and I0 of boot pair B are respectively indicated by 9b and lb. Each of the several outlet pipe sections 9a, |0a, 9h and |0b is provided at its lower end with a conventional T-coupling 34. The outlet pipe sections |0a and Ib of the movable boots I0 work through slots 35 provided in the table top 1, so that the said pipe sections Willnot interfere with free oscillatory movements of the movable boots.

Steam is introduced through the serially connected series of boots through a primary inlet pipe 36 which is screw threaded into the lower vertical opening of the T-coupling 34 that is carried by the outlet or discharge pipe 9a of fixed boot 9 of pair A. Projecting concentrically from the upper end of the primary inlet con-duit 36 and through the associated coupling 34 and outlet duct 9a and into the upper portion of the steam chamber of boot 9 of pair A is a relatively small diameter conduit 31 in the nature of a drawn copper tubing. This conduit 31 is secured in the end of the conduit 36 by a conventional compression type fitting 38 which tightly seals the space between the small diameter conduit 31 and the larger internal diameter of the primary inlet pipe 36. Steam delivered through the primary inlet pipe 36 passes upwardly through the small diameter conduit 31 to the upper extremity of boot 9 of pair A and then passes downwardly through the steam chamber of said boot around the outside of said conduit 31 and discharges from the boot 9 of pair A through outlet conduit 9a into the intermediate portion of the associated T-coupling 34. The horizontal opening of this last noted T-coupling 34 is connected through the medium of a compression type tting 39 to a small diameter conduit 40, which extends through the bottom of coupling 34 of conduit 10a through the center of conduit Ia and to the upper extremity of the steam chamber of boot pair A. This pipe coupling 40 is secured in the coupling 34 of conduit 10a by a compression type fitting 4l. By means of this connection steam discharged from the boot 9 of pair A is delivered to the boot I0 of pair A, and steam discharged from boot ID of pair A through coupling lila is delivered to the upper extremity of boot I9 of pair B by a small diameter tubing or conduit 42, which tubing is made fast in T-coupling 34 in conduit loa by a compression fitting 43 and is made fast in the T-coupling 34 of conduit lllb by a compression tting 44. Steam delivered into the boot IBI)` through the conduit 42 will be discharged through the conduit Illb into the associated coupling 34, from where it will be delivered through a small conduit 45 to the upper extreme portion of the steam chamber of boot 9 of pair B. Conduit 45 is made fast in the associated couplings 34 by compression fittings 46 and 41. Steam thus delivered into the steam chamber of boot 9 of pair B will be discharged through pipe 9binto the associated coupling 34 and from thence will be discharged through a suitable nal outlet pipe 48.

As previously indicated, the conduits 40, 4Z and 45 are preferably of drawn copper tubing which is quite exible, and in order to increase to a maximum the flexing action of the portions of these conduits which connect to either of the movable boots I0, these portions of the conduits 40, 42 and 45 are coiled, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Interposed in the nal outlet pipe 48 is a steam-control valve 49.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated the table top 1 is provided with a pair of stop lugs 50, one thereof being located back of the base portion of each of the boots I D and so positioned as to be engaged by the lower portions of the boots l0 under maximum desired outward oscillating movements thereof and to prevent excessive outward oscillation of the lower portions of said boots.

With the structure above described, it is evident that while the movable boots will be simultaneously lifted and caused to approach the cooperating fixed boots, under the action of the lifting device afforded by the push rod 21-28, nevertheless, that the independent supporting links i2 and the loose or slip connection between the rod prongs` 28 and the bottoms of the movable boots I0 permit the latter, when manually pressed by the application of a garment leg, sleeve, or the like, to approach the co-operating fixed boots and thus adapt themselves to legs or sleeve structures that differ in cross-section and taper.

What I claim is:

l. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a table-like supporting structure, of a pair of co-operating upright pressing boots, one of which boots is relatively fixed to said supporting structure and the other of which boots is movable toward and from the fixed boot, a link connected at its lower end to the base portion of said fixed boot and at its upper end to an upper portion of said movable boot and supporting the latter for rocking movements and for movements toward and from said fixed boot, and a lifting device movable vertically through said supporting structure and having sliding or slipping engagement with the lower end of said movable boot.

2. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a table-like supporting structure, of two pairs of co-operating upright pressing boots, each pair including one boot fixed to said supporting structure and one boot movable towardand from the xed boot, independently movable links connected at their lower ends to the base portions of the fixed boots and at their upper ends to upper portions of the co-'operating movable boots and supporting the latter for independent rocking movements and for independent bodily movements toward and from the cooperating flxed boots, and a lifting device movable vertically through said supporting structure and having independent sliding or slipping engagement with the lower ends of the respective movable boots.

3. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a table-like supporting structure, of two pairs of co-operating upright presser boots, each pair including one boot fixed to said supporting structure and one boot movable toward and from the xed boot, independently movable connections supporting said movable boots for independent rocking movements and for independent bodily movements toward and from the co-operating xed boots, and a common lifting device mounted on said supporting structure and having simultaneous lifting movements on said movable boots but permitting said movable boots to be independently moved toward the co-operating xed boots under force applied thereto by means other than said common lifting device.

4. The structure defined in claim 2 in which said independent supporting links are so disposed that the movable boots will tend to move away from the co-operating fixed boots under the action of gravity.

JOI-IN I-I. LEEF. 

